CarterHud

 

       The Toronto Blue Jays have acquired UT Jonathan Villar from the Miami Marlins in exchange for OF Griffin Conine.

       Villar is very, very fast, and he can play multiple positions. He has appeared at second base, shortstop and center field for the Marlins this season. After acquiring Starling Marte from the Diamondbacks and learning that Isan Diaz was returning after he opted-out, Villar became expendable. While he leads the league in stolen bases with nine, Villar has also been caught a league leading five times. The return is also pretty good in Conine, the son of Jeff Conine, who played for the Florida Marlins from 1993-1997, and again from 2003-2005. Conine was ranked by MLB Pipeline as Toronto\’s 16th best prospect. The Marlins drafted him in the 31st round in 2015, although Conine instead opted to go to Duke University. The Blue Jays are going for it this year, and Villar is a good player, giving them defensive flexibility and a speedy guy. 

       Villar, 29, hit two home runs with nine stolen bases, a .272 average and an OPS of .688 in 126 Plate Appearances for the Marlins this year. In his MLB career for the Marlins, Baltimore Orioles, Milwaukee Brewers and Houston Astros, Villar has 80 home runs with 211 stolen bases, a .261 average and a .734 OPS in 3128 Plate Appearances. 

       Conine, 23, hit 22 home runs with a .283 average and a .946 OPS in 348 Plate Appearances for Single-A Lansing last year. In his minor league career, Conine has 29 home runs with a .266 average and an .863 OPS in 587 Plate Appearances.

 

       The Colorado Rockies have acquired OF Kevin Pillar from the Boston Red Sox in exchange for a player to be named later and international slot money. 

       Pillar has always been knows as a great defender, but with hitting skills that are just okay. A longtime center field with Toronto, Pillar has played all three outfield positions with Boston this year, but mostly right field. Pillar could platoon in center with Sam Hilliard until David Dahl returns from the IL. The lowly Red Sox have unloaded multiple players recently, and Pillar joins now joins the group.

       Pillar, 31, has four home runs with one stolen base, a .274 average and an OPS of .795 in 126 Plate Appearances with the Red Sox this year. In his MLB career for the Red Sox, Toronto Blue Jays and San Francisco Giants, Pillar has 80 home runs with 84 stolen bases, a .261 average and a .704 OPS in 3389 Plate Appearances.

 

       The Miami Marlins have acquired OF Starling Marte from the Arizona Diamondbacks in exchange for LHP Caleb Smith, RHP Humberto Mejia and LHP Julio Frias. 

       The Marlins are 14-15, but they are in second place in the NL East, so they will try to hold that spot and make the playoffs. Marte is an instant addition, although they gave up two starters in their rotation for him. Marte had at least 21 stolen bases in every season from 2013 to 2019, reaching 30 five times and 40 twice. He can also hit for average, with a .295 BA last year. The Diamondbacks acquired him in January for Brennan Malone and Liover Peguero, so this is a very good return. Smith is currently on the IL, but he can strike batters out and he isn\’t a free agent until 2024. On August 4th of last year, Smith had a 3.35 ERA, but he soon fell off. Mejia is a young pitcher from Panama that joined the rotation for three starts this year, although he was sent down. He was not a top-30 prospect in the Marlins system. Neither is Frias, who has never reached higher than Low-A.

       Marte, 31, has two home runs with five stolen bases, a .311 average and an OPS of .827 in 138 Plate Appearances this year. In his MLB career for the Diamondbacks and Pittsburgh Pirates, Marte has 110 home runs with 244 stolen bases, a .288 average and an OPS of .794 in 4124 Plate Appearances. 

       Smith, 29, has a 3.00 ERA with three strikeouts in three innings in this year. In his MLB career with the Marlins and New York Yankees, Smith has a 4.64 ERA with 277 strikeouts and a 4.87 FIP in 252.1 innings.

       Mejia, 23, has a 5.40 ERA with 11 strikeouts and a 6.93 FIP in 10 innings this year. He had a 2.09 ERA with 89 strikeouts in 90.1 innings in the minors last year, although he has never played in AA or AAA. 

       Frias, 22, had a 2.83 ERA with 73 strikeouts in 70 innings for Low-A Batavia last year. In his minor league career, Frias has a 4.28 ERA with 184 strikeouts in 195.1 innings. 

from Getty Images

 

       The Toronto Blue Jays have acquired LHP Robbie Ray and cash (reported to be $300,000) from the Arizona Diamondbacks in exchange for LHP Travis Bergen.

       The Diamondbacks should have sold high on Ray last year. Then, he still had one more year left of control, and he finished with 235 strikeouts in 174.1 innings. However, they held on to Ray and traded away Zack Greinke, and now they got a weak return for the lefty. That is not only because the Jays will get a month of Ray, he has also been terrible this year. Ray has walked a league leading 31 batters this year, and his 27 earned runs allowed are the most in the league as well. While he still has a 12.5 K/9, Ray needs to improve his control, as the Jays will expect a lot out of him. Toronto already has a bunch of starters, with Hyun-Jin Ryu, Tanner Roark, Chase Anderson, and the newly acquired Taijuan Walker. None of those players were in the organization when the 2019 season concluded. They also have Matt Shoemaker, Trent Thornton and top prospect Nate Pearson on the IL currently. They give up Bergen, who is mainly a minor leaguer, but he played for the Giants last year after they took him in the Rule-5 draft, although he was returned in August. Still, Ray was hurting the Diamondbacks more than he was helping them this year, and Bergen can be a farmhand for them.

       Ray, 28, has a 7.84 ERA with 43 strikeouts and a 7.23 FIP in 31 innings for the Diamondbacks this year. In his MLB career for Arizona and the Detroit Tigers, Ray has a 4.25 ERA with 1017 strikeouts and a 4.09 FIP in 821.2 innings.

       Bergen, 26, has allowed no runs in 1.2 innings with three strikeouts this year. In his MLB career for the Blue Jays and San Francisco Giants, Bergen has a 5.06 ERA with 21 strikeouts in 21.1 innings.

 

       The Oakland Athletics have acquired LHP Mike Minor from the Texas Rangers in exchange for two players to be named later.

       The A\’s are almost guaranteed to make the playoffs. Their bullpen is amazing, their lineup is good although guys have underperformed, but the rotation is weak. Chris Bassitt and Jesus Luzardo are the only starters with an ERA under 4.00. While like Sean Manaea and Frankie Montas, the top two pitchers in the Oakland rotation, Minor has had a bad start to the season, he has shown that he can be a two or three pitcher in a rotation. Minor, who missed 2015 and 2016 with injuries, came back as a reliever in 2017 before transitioning back to being a starter after signing with the Rangers. Last year, Minor had a 3.59 ERA with 200 strikeouts, and finished 8th in Cy Young voting, but his 7.8 WAR led pitchers. While he has an 0-5 record through seven starts this year, the pending free agent is a valuable pick-up for Oakland. 

       Minor, 32, has a 5.60 ERA with 35 strikeouts and a 4.83 FIP in 35.1 innings for the Rangers this year. In his MLB career for the Rangers, Kansas City Royals and Atlanta Braves, Minor has a 3.95 ERA with 1021 strikeouts and a 3.98 FIP in 1131 innings. 

       The Rangers are 12-21, and they aren\’t making the playoffs. They will be selling off their rotation, as both Minor and Lance Lynn were heavily rumored to be dealt, although Lynn still remains in Texas at the moment. The two players to be named are likely minor leaguers not on the 60-man player pool for the A\’s.